Before you start shooting for film or TV it’s worth thinking about the process of actually taking a shot. Filming should not be just a sequence of unplanned and random shots. Each shot that you take needs to be planned and thought about. Once you have found the shot you want to take, you may need to rehearse it. This is particularly true if it is a piece to camera or if there is some action in the shot. Your shot may include some kind of movement, pans, and tilts; again it’s useful just to rehearse this before you actually take the shot. You will want to know where your shot begins and ends and get a sense of how long the shot is going to take, and how interesting it is. There is no point having a long, slow pan which mostly just shows sky or grass. You need to have a good reason to use these kinds of moves. You should rehearse your shots a couple of times, just to get a good sense of what you are trying to achieve.
When you record a shot you will need to take more than you need. You will need to hold the shot at the beginning and the end. This will make things easier when you come to the edit. The bits at the beginning and end are often referred to as a handle or top and tail. When you go to take a shot, after the camera starts running, count to five before you say, ‘action’. At the end of the shot, count to five before you say, ‘cut’. That way you will always have a handle. This is particularly important if there is going to be a move on the shot. It is very difficult to cut into a moving shot. You need to hold the camera steady for five seconds before starting any move and leave the camera steady at the end of the move. You won’t use all these bits but you will need some of them.
At times you will need to think about where to put objects or people in frame. You will also need to direct the eye line or to direct action, and you will need to tell people to move or look left or right. This can get confusing, since when you are behind the camera you are often facing the opposite way to the people you are filming. The convention for this is to talk about ‘camera left’ or ‘camera right’. You always describe the position from the point of view of the camera. If you are behind the camera it will also be your left and your right.
When you take a shot there is a set sequence of commands which everyone tends to follow. It can sound a little militaristic but the reason for this is so that everyone is ready and knows what they are supposed to be doing and when. It saves a whole lot of confusion. The actual words you use can vary but whatever you choose to say it should follow the same sort of pattern. Imagine for the moment that you are going to do a piece to camera. The person in front of the camera has rehearsed the lines and you have rehearsed the shot. You now want to get everyone ready to take the shot.
You can download this sheet from the website.
Template 14.1 Taking a shot
Not every director in the world slavishly follows this script but they will go through something similar. This whole approach may feel a little unequal, particularly when you are used to working together and making joint decisions about everything. It may also feel a little uncomfortable for the person in the role of director to be barking orders at everyone; other people tend to take to it fairly easily.
The reason for this approach is to keep things moving and not to get bogged down in endless discussions. It also means that less time is wasted retaking shots because someone wasn’t paying attention or didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing.
If you are sharing the role of director then everyone can have a go at running the show for a while. But it’s a good idea to give each person a section of shots to be responsible for rather than everyone trying to be responsible for every shot. You’ll find you get a lot more done that way.
EXERCISE 14.1 Taking a shot
If you want to get a feel for taking shots in this way you can set up a fairly simple shoot and set yourselves a time limit to get your shots.
For example, here is a short scene with three people involved: a presenter and two contributors. The presenter is standing with a contributor on each side. She or he is going to introduce the two characters and ask them both two questions. You will need two props: a pair of boots or shoes and a small mat. You will need to be in a team of at least five people: 1 x presenter, 2 x contributors, 1 x director, 1 x camera; you could add others if you have enough people.
Here is the script; you can download this from the website if you wish.
For the purposes of this exercise I want you to shoot the following:
This means that you are trying to get eight shots of this particular scene. You don’t need to go to lots of trouble finding the right location or lighting. Anywhere will do. If you can’t find a mat, just use a large piece of paper or a scarf. For the purposes of this exercise you are trying to get the feel of setting up for different shots on an action sequence or piece to camera. The aim is just to get the shots efficiently.
Here is what you need to think about:
You can take turns at what task you are doing but once you have got your task you should stick with it. If you stick with the processes described you should get through it fairly quickly; if you don’t you will take much longer.
Running a shoot can be pressurised and hard work. Lots of things can go wrong and lots will go wrong. However, having a firm control of the shooting process will help you keep things moving and making sure that you make the most of your time. There will be less confusion and more productivity.
